The Reaper
by JKrlin
Summary: Her name is Ruby Rose, and she's the deadliest huntress alive.
1. The Man in the Olive Coat

A lightning strike startled Ruby awake.

It snowed pretty heavily sometimes on Patch, but the rain and weather in Vale rarely got bad enough for there to be lightning.

Maybe it was just a bad dream that woke her up. Ruby could hear Yang snoring nearby. In the dim moonlight shining through their dorm room window, Ruby could also see Blake tossing and turning in her sleep. The lack of White Fang activity recently must be getting to her, worried that they were planning something big. Beneath Ruby, Weiss was silent and still in her bunk, sleeping serenely, as always.

Yeah, it was probably a dream. Maybe Nora was doing some late-night experimentation with her Semblance with the rest of JNPR on the roof again. Ruby shifted to her side, took a few slow breathes, and tried to close her eyes.

An unnatural flash of green light suddenly shone through the window. Ruby was wide awake now.

She dashed out of bed and stood in front of the window. Raindrops slid down the glass. There was scattered drizzling across Beacon, overhanging clouds spread widely above the campus. A gap in the clouds revealed the broken moon positioned above one particular building opposite Ruby's dorm.

There was a human figure standing at the roof edge of that building. Ruby couldn't see much of him. The one thing she could really make out was the only thing that mattered: those glowing red eyes.

The figure became a blur of green energy, a mass of light that left a trail of sporadic lightning in its wake as it moved. Ruby quickly snatched her cloak and secured her hood before opening the window and jumping out. She left her own trail behind her, with rose petals that would dissipate into the air before too long, signature to her Semblance of speed, as she went after the figure.

Ruby chased the figure down Beacon's main avenue. He stopped abruptly at the end, prompting Ruby to stop a few meters away from him, or else she would've probably crashed into him.

She could make out the figure clearly know. He was a few heads taller than Ruby. He wore an olive-green coat that reached down just below his knees. He also wore his own hood, though he hid his face with a scarf and an expressionless mask. The only hint of a face Ruby could see were those glowing red orbs where his eyes should have been.

Those red eyes, and that green lightning... There was only one possible person this could be.

"It was you," Ruby found herself saying. "You were the one at our house that night."

The figure lifted his head up, like – like what he did that night didn't even matter to him!

"You killed them!" Ruby screamed. "You killed Uncle Qrow. You killed my mom! Why?!"

The cold, inhuman voice that answered Ruby might have normally sent chills down her spine. Right now, she was too angry to care about it. "If you want to know that," taunted the cold-blooded killer, "you're going to have to catch me."

The figure ran off, and Ruby was on his tail in an instant.

She might not have Crescent Rose on her, but she always had her Semblance. No matter how fast the Man in Olive Coat was, he wasn't going to get away. Not this time.

Eventually, Ruby realized that she and the murderer were doing laps around the docking bay. Ruby stopped short and spun around, planning to cut tackle the killer when he came back around, but he blinded her with a burst of lightning that rebounded off her Aura. By the time she could see again, he had thrown his arm out and clotheslined her. Ruby rolled across the ground, winded by the hit. As she tried to catch her breath, the Man in Olive stood over her.

"Not fast enough, Reaper," he remarked.

Reaper? Weird nickname, but Ruby didn't give it a second thought. She spun her leg around in the same way Yang had taught her. While Ruby was shorter than her sister, the leg sweep did manage to catch the Man in Olive off guard. As he lost his footing, Ruby hopped as high as she could into the sky. She didn't have Crescent Rose to fire off to give herself the extra momentum, but her Semblance gave her the extra speed she needed to pack enough force to give the Man in Olive a good punch across the face when she got back down.

She was about to give him a punch, at least, until he pulled out some sort of cane and jabbed the end of it against the floor. A protective dome of green energy appeared around him, deflecting Ruby's punch. Before Ruby could try delivering another punch or backing up, the dome disappeared as the Man in Olive jabbed his cane against Ruby's gut, nearly making her upchuck last night's dinner.

Ruby can do this. She can do this. She's fought Roman Torchwick before. He uses a cane as his main weapon, and he was just some flunkie Beacon dropout who became a petty criminal. Ruby was an up and coming huntress-in-training, who was admitted into Beacon Academy two years early. The Man in Olive was some deranged killer with weird a lightning-esque Semblance and Grimm-like eyes. If she could handle her own against Torchwick, then the Man in Olive should be –

The jabs and punches from the psycho never stopped coming. Ruby barely dodged and blocked any of them. It only ended when the Man in Olive picked her up and tossed her away. Ruby pressed her forehead against the floor, turning to glare at the red-eyed killer. She could feel her Aura dropping deeper into the yellow. He had even landed a good cross on her nose to bypass her Aura long enough for blood to start dripping. The blood mixed with the rain slipped into her mouth and tasted awful.

When she made eye contact with the Man in Olive, he kicked her side. She rolled across the ground before getting kicked again from him. His speed was just unreal.

"Who are you?" Ruby demanded when the Man in Olive finally let up and gave her a chance to somewhat recompose herself.

"You know who I am, Ruby."

The Man in Olive moved again, almost too fast for Ruby to keep up. He left behind brief afterimages of himself as he stood Ruby up and peppered her with more jabs and hits. He was just toying with her at this point.

Whacking his cane against Ruby's skull, he backed off and watched as Ruby nurtured her head and gasped for air. "I don't know who you are," she said.

"But you do, Ruby. We've been at this a long time, you and I, but I'm always one step ahead."

Evil monologue. Ruby has to take advantage of the evil monologue and charge him, just like how Dad taught –

The Man in Olive sidestepped Ruby's lunge and pinned her to the floor. "It is your destiny to lose to me, Reaper, just as it was your mother's and uncle's destinies to die that night." The killer paused. The red glow of his eyes along with the green energy that seemed to spark around his body was like a blinding light show. "You may be able to defy death, but always remember that you can never defy destiny, Reaper."

Then, in another flash of light that usually accompanied the Man in Olive's bursts of speed, he vanished.

Ruby will get him next time. She will get him next time. She has to. She has to get faster, stronger. He can't just get away with what he did!

But he was right. She wasn't fast enough. Not yet.

Knowing that he was long gone, Ruby dragged her broken body back to her dorm. It looked like Blake was awake. The noise of the storm from the open window must have woken her up. The window was closed when Ruby got back to their room. Ruby ignored Blake's stare and her questions as she plopped down on her bunk. Her Aura will hear her injuries by the time morning came. Probably. Hopefully.

She had to get faster. She just had to. If she can't even keep up, if every time she got close enough to touch him and he would just pull away, then she would never catch him and make him pay for what he did to Uncle Qrow. To Dad. To Mom.

She just had to get faster. She just had to.

X

"Look what he did to her!" Yang shrieked with an intensity Ruby rarely heard from her. Ruby instinctively shied away, leaning closer to Weiss. Blake hovered near Yang, ready to pull her back if she got too aggressive, but she otherwise let Yang vent. Ruby once felt intimidated at being in Headmaster Ozpin's large and ornate office, but it was Yang with her fiery hair drawing everyone's attention at the moment. "What are you going to do about this?"

"A few cuts to her cloak," Headmaster Ozpin observed from where he sat at his desk, "and a few nicks and bruises that Ruby's Aura has yet to heal."

Ruby unconsciously swallowed, the motion making her wince. Her neck had received a few more hits than she had remembered. The adrenaline had finally worn off when Ruby woke up this morning. The bandages helped, as did the support of her teammates, but without the painkillers, Ruby wouldn't be standing right now.

"That's the problem," Yang continued. "The Man in the Olive Coat got pass Beacon security and beat Ruby into a bloody pulp, and her Aura's barely kicked in at all to patch her up. What's going to happen the next time the he comes around? Are you just gonna let him walk in like he owns the place? Let him hurt Ruby again?"

Professor Goodwitch, standing at Ozpin's side, looked sharply at Yang. "Your anger is understandable, Miss Xiao-Long, but watch your tone." Then she looked sharply at Ozpin. "Her passion is not without merit, however. The rumors of the Man in the Olive Coat being capable of rendering a Huntsman's Aura null and void appear to have some truth to them. Is the device James sent fully operational?"

"It should be completed tonight." Ozpin regarded Weiss with an expectant look.

Standing tall, at attention, looking a lot like some of the pictures Ruby has seen of Winter Schnee, Weiss confidently said, "I will assist Professor Oobleck and make sure the calibrations are completed before nightfall."

Ozpin nodded proudly. Weiss was one Ozpin's favorite students, after all, what with him investing in Weiss' studies as a huntress when Weiss' dad had cut her off her from the Schnee family fortune. "The Materia prototype will be the perfect lure for the Man in Olive," Ozpin said, "but ensure you make use of the diluted Dust crystals Bartholomew and I had synthesized. The Man in Olive will not realize the radiation the prototype will emit is false until it's too late. By then, the force field will be active, and we will have him within our grasp."

Yang looked about ready to go on another tirade, but Professor Goodwitch cut her off before she could. "And our seasoned huntsmen that we have recalled will apprehend this fugitive." She glared pointedly at each member of Team RWBY. "The Grimm's increased ferocity against our borders and the need to send more of our veteran huntsmen and huntresses to the front lines does not justify your vigilante actions. You are students; capable, intelligent, but young and inexperienced. It is only luck that Roman Torchwick or a White Fang extremist hasn't yet killed any of you."

Blake's ears perked up. Her cat ears, that is, but those were of course hidden by her bow. "The police can deal with common criminals, but the White Fang are too organized for them to handle. It can't be helped that the White Fang are the only meaningful force for change for the Faunus, even if the White Fang are going about it the wrong way. I know that the man who killed Ruby and Yang's family has to stopped, but you can't just keep ignoring –"

"We are not ignoring the civil unrest and domestic terrorism going on within Vale, Miss Belladonna," Ozpin interrupted coolly. "We are merely prioritizing the current obstacles to the path to peace accordingly to their threat levels. We have agents dealing with the White Fang, regardless of your own independent activities against the organization. We have lobbied for the changes in social policy you and many others have put forth. The elimination of a man seemingly capable of disrupting humanity's key advantage against Grimm – a person's Aura, the extension of one's very soul – requires our upmost attention."

"Then maybe improve campus security while you're at it," Yang muttered through gritted teeth. She was calming down a bit, but she was still warm with simmering rage. "He almost killed Ruby!"

She was right. "Just almost, though," Ruby pointed out. Everyone's eyes turned to her. Ruby averted their looks, glancing at her boots. "He could have killed me if he wanted to. It was pretty obvious. He wants me alive for some reason. He seemed to know me, and he seemed to think that I knew him. 'For a long time,' he said."

"Curious questions that we will have answered once we have apprehended him," Ozpin said with an air of finality. "Miss Rose, I would like to speak to you in private for a moment. The rest of Team RWBY may wait outside and escort Miss Rose to the infirmary afterward. Glynda, please speak with Port about last night's security team." Ozpin gestured to the door.

Team RWBY stood their ground. Ruby was flattered at their willingness to stand with her, but she gave her teammates her best smile and nudged them to the door. "I can still stand on my own. Don't worry guys."

Like the awesome partner Weiss was, she offered a rare smile that was earnest, trusting, without her typical haughty attitude. Giving Ruby a one-armed hug, she left the room. Blake glanced between Ruby and Yang hesitantly, but she soon followed after Weiss.

Yang hadn't moved an inch, but when Professor Goodwitch walked by her and Ruby, Goodwitch whispered, "I'll schedule another appointment between you two and your father. today"

There weren't supposed to be any visiting hours for the prison today, but being the right-hand for the Headmaster of Beacon Academy gave Professor Goodwitch a lot of pull in the government. Yang's red eyes finally faded back to their normal purple as she whispered back, "Thanks, Glynda."

"You're welcome, Yang."

Yang was always the rebellious type, but it was nice to know that she still recognized how much of a good guardian Glynda Goodwitch was to them all these years.

Still, it was too bad there wasn't enough political favors in the world to get Dad outright freed from prison. Ruby barely understood all the politics that went on between the Huntsmen Academies and the Vale Council, but at the end of the day, the garbage lawyers and judges still believed that the "ironclad" evidence pointed to Taiyang Xiao-Long killing Mom and Uncle Qrow. Why they haven't let up and just believe that the Man in the Olive Coat killed them and framed Dad, Ruby still hasn't figured out. Like a lot of things related to that monster, it irked her to no end.

After an obligatory hug and a stern warning to watch herself from Yang, and a supportive pat on the back from Goodwitch, Ruby was left alone with Ozpin.

"I'll spare you the obligatory advice to take care of yourself," Ozpin said with a good-humored smile. Ruby smiled back, though she was too weary to put much energy into it. "I suppose I'll leave the lecturing for not reporting the Man in the Olive Coat's presence immediately for Glynda and your father." Ruby lost her smile. "What I will give you, Miss Rose, is a simple question: Why did this mysterious figure call you 'Reaper'?"

Ruby shrugged. "I don't know. He also called me by my real name, but I don't where 'Reaper came from."

"I believe it is a challenge," Ozpin said. He leaned back against his seat. "How far are you in your historical studies, Miss Rose? Does the name, the Grimm Reaper, ring any bells?"

Ruby thought on it. "One of the best Huntresses in recent history," she vaguely recalled. "No one knew her real name or face since she always wore a mask, but plenty of people knew how skilled she was at killing Grimm. She cleared out a lot of infested territory in Sanus and Anima for people to set up villages, but then she disappeared. A lot of those villages got wiped out in the end, too."

"I may not look like it, but I'm old enough to have met and personally known the famous Grimm Reaper in her prime," Ozpin said. He approached Ruby, guiding his wheelchair to move himself around his desk. "As the unofficial overseer for all Huntsman Academies, I make it a point to become familiar with all of my potential allies. Of course, thanks to the inherent nature to a hunter's lifelong goal, of protecting humanity from the forces of darkness, I have sent a great many of those allies to their deaths."

Shuffling her feet, Ruby wasn't sure what to say. "Is that, uh, what happened to the Grimm Reaper?"

"No," Ozpin said flatly as he wheeled himself directly in front of Ruby. Ozpin was still slightly taller than Ruby at this height, but even without factoring in size, Ozpin looked pretty intimidating with that cold, wrinkled, almost sorrowful expression on his face. "For a great many of my allies, students, and friends, they did not lose their lives while ensuring the safety and prosperity of their fellow man, or while eliminating the everlasting threat of Grimm that have always threatened to overwhelm and consume all that we love and cherish. They did not lose their lives while on missions I had assigned them. Instead, they lost their lives needlessly. In meaningless executions."

Now, Ruby had a good idea what Ozpin was talking about. "The Man in the Olive Coat killed them," she said.

"Yes. Many fell by his hands. The Grimm Reaper. South Dakota. Leonard Lionheart. David Washington... Qrow Branwen. Summer Rose."

Ruby's family wasn't the first. She knew about the rumors, but she hadn't realized that murderer had been active for so long. "How long has the Man in Olive been killing hunters?" Ruby asked.

"The Grimm Reaper was the first we know of. Why kill them? What are his motives? I can't say. I can say that this man, a man with eyes like Grimm and abilities that rival some of the greatest Huntsmen of the recent generations, has slain many people." Ozpin paused. "He has also slain a great many Grimm. He appears to be a superb killer who relishes in drawing blood, regardless of the species or inclusion of a soul."

"He's killed Grimm?" Ruby asked in surprise.

"Yes, though I doubt it was for the benefit of humanity, seeing how he has just as easily killed decent, good huntsmen." Ozpin held up something wrapped in a black cloth. "Qrow Branwen and Summer Rose were more than decent hunters. They and the rest of Team STRQ were the best of the best. I oversaw their training personally, and until the unfortunate drama that came with Raven's desertion, they were truly the deadliest huntsmen and huntresses I had ever known. Even more so than the Grimm Reaper."

Ozpin handed Ruby the cloth. Opening it up, she saw that it was a greyish skull mask. A human skull, not like a skull or a bone design resembling a Grimm's like how the White Fang or lawless raiders used. "This looks like the Grimm Reaper's mask," Ruby said, vaguely recalling a drawing of it from her history textbook. There were no known surviving photographs of the Grimm Reaper.

"It was indeed hers," Ozpin said as he rolled back, "and it is now yours."

"What?" Ruby was taken off guard. "Why?"

"The world of Remnant requires a new Reaper," Ozpin said proudly, "one capable of overcoming not only the Grimm, not only the malcontents and parasitic bandits sabotaging our pursuit for peace, but also the monsters that appear to transcend all those threats. Namely, this Slayer of Men and Grimm."

"Wait a second. Is that why the Man in Olive called me Reaper? He thinks I can actually beat him?"

"As I said, Team STRQ was the deadliest, superior in their speed, strength, and determination compared to all of their peers and seniors. Summer's and Taiyang's blood runs through you, and you have partially adopted Qrow's fighting style and aspects of your father's. I can't say why this Slayer has not targeted your sister, but he appears to think you, Miss Rose, will one day become a Reaper capable of defeating him."

Ruby wasn't sure how to feel about this. "Do you really think that? I mean, I want to see him go down. I want him to pay for what he did. He has to be caught, admit that he killed Uncle Qrow and mom, and get Dad out of jail. But he's too fast for me to even catch up. Besides, you already have a plan to capture him tonight. Right?"

"A man in my position must plan for all eventualities. While I am confident in Miss Schnee's and Doctor Oobleck's technical prowess, this Slayer is not the only threat out there." Ozpin smirked. "I've seen the Grimm Reaper at work. I taught Team STRQ. Now, I wish to personally train you, Miss Rose, to become a new Reaper of the Soulless, leading Team RWBY and the rest of your generation in a new age of justice and heroism to suppress and ultimately destroy the forces of darkness."

Personal training, huh? By the Headmaster of Beacon, too. Ruby knew that Ozpin played favorites with RWBY in general, but now with this offer... "I need to get faster. And stronger. I'll do whatever I have to." Ruby stared at the mask in her hands. "I won't let the Slayer or anyone else hurt my family again."

"Of course," Ozpin agreed. "I always believed you were destined for great things. I am only accelerating the process."

Destined? Ruby rarely thought about destiny all that much. "It is your destiny to lose to me, Reaper," the Slayer had said last night. "You can never defy destiny, Reaper."

There's no such thing as destiny. There are decisions. Choices. The Slayer has done horrible things, made unforgivable choices. Ruby's going to make the right choices to take him down. His talk about her and her family's destiny was total garbage. She's going to feel so happy when he gets proven wrong.

Ruby tried on the mask. She could see through the eye slits surprisingly clearly.

Reaper of the Soulless, huh? Slayer of Men and Grimm. Everyone knew you had to have a decently creative mind to come up with good team names out of the team members' initials, but Ruby guessed Headmaster Ozpin had a particular flair for the dramatic when he came up with these titles.

"Thank you, Headmaster Ozpin," Ruby said through the mask. "For helping me. Letting me into Beacon. Supporting my team. You and Glynda doing your best to help out my dad while he's stuck in prison. Making a plan to get the Slayer once and for all." Ruby took a deep breath. The material of the mask felt cool on her skin, but she's grown pretty numb to the cold. "For everything. I wouldn't be where I am today without the help of a lot of people, and those people include you, so... Thanks."

"You're welcome, Ruby," Ozpin said with a smile. "I have to say that I feel the same way about you." Ozpin turned away. "Don't disappoint."


	2. The Trap

Weiss still blamed herself for the Slayer's escape. Doctor Oobleck has a brilliant mind, but his field of expertise was more so history rather than the specific technical aspects of technology and engineering. He lacked the careful eye and care that Weiss retained when it came to precision and accuracy. It was Weiss' responsibility to ensure the force field surrounding the Materia prototype was appropriately calibrated to not falter, to be inescapable, yet the Slayer had managed bypass it for one crucial second and had nearly killed Professor Ozpin.

The Slayer had nearly killed Professor Goodwitch, Ruby, Blake, and Yang, as well.

He had successfully killed the six veteran huntsmen that had been there to further deter the Slayer from resisting. Weiss had barely managed to blink before she had realized that it was six dead bodies that had fallen to the floor on her monitor. A speed Semblance of that incredibly velocity was incomparable to anything Weiss has ever seen in a hunter.

Doctor Oobleck's contingency – an Aura-shattering bomb, namely – had thankfully prevented the Slayer from beating Ruby to death, but the Slayer had still escaped with the Materia device in his possession.

So, today, with Yang and Blake going on another (unsanctioned) stakeout against the White Fang, and Ruby occupied with Ozpin's new tutoring lessons, Weiss saw fit to visit the laboratory where the trap for the Slayer had been set. All of the surviving equipment among the ruins sans the Materia prototype was still there, barely touched since the Slayer's escape. Now was a good a time as any to figure out exactly what went wrong.

As Weiss slid comfortably back into her element. Crunching numbers, correcting inconsistencies, and piecing together the streamlined route to a solution all came naturally to her. Her so-called father may have believed those skills to be better utilized in the Schnee Dust Company, Winter leaning towards the Atlas military, but there were plenty of fast-talkers and fighters in Remnant already.

Weiss was a superb fencer, her proficiency with her Semblance excellent, but her time was ultimately better spent on improving and innovating the weapons and tools essential to the advancement of the humanity's crusade for peace. Weiss hadn't quite recognized her potential until Ozpin had found her and nudged her onto the right path, and she hasn't looked back since.

For now, however, Weiss had to retrace her steps. The numbers simply didn't add up. The force field had been fully charged throughout the entire operation until Professor Goodwitch had manually deactivated it to save Ozpin from the Slayer. The fluctuations recorded on Weiss' remote program did not match the calculations recorded by the on-site program.

Perhaps the diluted Dust crystals' radiation interfered with the sensors? The Slayer's unique abilities somehow causing malfunctions? But Weiss had accounted for those potential errors. Doctor Oobleck had double-checked the calibrations, Weiss triple-checked them, Ozpin quadruple-checked –

Wait a minute. Weiss brightened the monitor of her computer and squinted her eyes to make sure she wasn't imagining things. There was another program implemented in the software, hidden under the layers of other programs.

Opening up metal panels, analyzing the complex innards, and sifting through all the various wires, conductors, and resistors, Weiss seemed to activate something.

Doctor Oobleck's bomb had went off outside the laboratory. While the damage did extend to inside the lab, the columns and platform that had generated the force field was still standing. The force field was active now, but when Weiss turned to look at it, she unconsciously pulled out her rapier and held it at the ready.

Through the transparent blue shield stood the Man in the Olive Coat, masked and all.

"Headmaster Ozpin," said the despicable man in that echoing, unnatural voice of his, "we meet at last."

Those were the exact words the Slayer had spoken that night. "What do you want with the Materia prototype?" Ozpin had asked him as he had wheeled into the room alongside Goodwitch and the other huntsmen.

"My goals are beyond your understanding."

This doesn't make sense. This was... a recording. A prerendered hologram of the Slayer being trapped in the force field. Was the Slayer even there that night? He had to have been. He killed those huntsmen, beaten Ruby again, dragged Ozpin into the force field and –

"Oh, I'm not like a Grimm at all. Grimm are mindless monsters who kill in accordance to motivations that have long been forgotten."

"I have the benefit of selecting those who I slay."

Weiss spun around, holding her blade in front of her. Ozpin was here. He was – He was standing on his own two feet, no wheelchair or crutches in sight.

She can't believe this. Weiss had thought Yang's completely unfounded suspicions on Ozpin being some co-conspirator with the Man in Olive were nothing but overly emotional misjudgments, but now...

Ozpin was smiling, looking as proud as the day he had congratulated Team RWBY for successfully passing initiation, stepping forward as he clapped. "You are incredibly clever, Miss Schnee," he said. "I've always said so."

"Stop!" Weiss commanded. Ozpin's smile and calm demeanor never wavered as he abided her. "You're him, aren't you? The Slayer."

"You and I have never been truly, properly introduced," Ozpin said easily, unthreatened by Weiss pulling out a Dust vial for Myrtenaster. "You may call me Oscar."

Such a mundane name. Oscar? That didn't sound too far off from Ozpin. Was there a connection there? Some hidden meaning? An inside joke? Was there... How far did this rabbit hole go? "The night we trapped the Slayer, you almost died. There were two of you." At one point, the Slayer had been trading blows with Ruby outside while Weiss and Goodwitch were attending to Ozpin's injuries.

Ozpin's form began vibrating, fading out before he disappeared completely. Not even a nanosecond later, there were two Ozpins standing before Weiss.

"It's an afterimage," one them said. "A 'speed mirage', if you will."

Moving so fast that he could appear in two places at once. He had the power to kill Weiss right now.

Ozpin had stood there for Weiss when her blood family hadn't. How could he be the same man who has slain so many people, ruined so many other families?

"You were there that night," Weiss muttered, trying to process this revelation, "ten years ago, in Ruby's and Yang's house. You killed Qrow Branwen and Summer Rose."

Strolling to Weiss' computer console nearby, Ozpin pressed a few buttons and deactivated the hologram of the Slayer. "It was never my intention to kill them. I was there to kill Ruby."

What?! "Why? You're her mentor. You planned for her and I to become combat partners. You've been teaching her how to –"

"Kill Grimm? Combat enemy and rogue huntsmen? Improve her Semblance? Harness her potential? All a means to an end."

"And what end is that, exactly?"

Ozpin began approaching her again. Weiss stepped back before deciding to stomp her feet and hold her ground. "An ending where I finally become free of my imprisonment in this place, after being marooned for these ten long years. The Reaper's powers, her silver eyes in particular, are the key to my returning to my world. To my time."

A sliver of green electricity flickered down Ozpin's arm. "And no one," he said, "is going to prevent that from happening."

A psychotic time traveler? Is that what the Slayer really was? What Ozpin really was? So, Ruby truly went by the moniker of "Reaper" in the future, and the Slayer has is her sworn enemy? "Don't be so confident," Weiss said... Why were there tears slipping down her face?

"Do you know," Ozpin said, his cool voice faintly breaking slightly, "how hard it has been to keep all of this from you, Miss Schnee – especially from you?"

"You... You taught me well. Our familiarity is the only reason I hadn't looked harder, seen you for what you really are sooner." Ozpin was... Ozpin was not the man Weiss had thought he was. Everything that he has given her? A place to call home? A loving, competent team? All a means to an end, to him, is what this has all been. All according to the Slayer's designs.

The Slayer was the enemy, and one must dispatch your enemy as quickly and cleanly as attainable. Winter had taught her that, and Ozpin had only reinforced the lesson.

So why couldn't Weiss make a move to go for the kill? Why was she crying?

"The undeniable truth is," Ozpin said, raising his hand, crackling with green energy, "I've grown quite fond of you."

Quite fond of her? What, like a pet? Like a trophy daughter meant to be molded into whatever role the Slayer required?

"And in many ways, you have shown me what it's like to be a father."

And Weiss had thought she had really learned what it's like to be a daughter loved by a father.

But the Slayer killed Ruby's mother. He has killed countless mothers, fathers, uncles – none of this can go unanswered and ignored!

Ozpin – The Slayer became a blur. Weiss thrust her rapier forward, but the Slayer deflected it with his glowing hand.

The Slayer shoved his other hand into Weiss' sternum, and she felt everything stop. Feeling, sound, breathing – it was all gone, numb. The only sense that was working was her sigh. Ozpin's face looked down at Weiss in sorrowful disappointment.

Then Weiss gasped. Was her heart still beating?

"Forgive me," the Slayer said, "but to me, you've been dead for decades..."

"... for decades! I don't agree with how much he sits on the fence for Faunus civil rights, but that doesn't make him an accomplice to some crazy conspiracy, Yang."

"Blake, just listen to me. Ozpin has plenty of tenure as Headmaster, sure, but something is really off about him. Look. Ten years ago, Ruby and I lose our family, but he barely gives a second glance even when Glynda takes us in. It isn't until the Dust Accelerator explosion – that he knew could have exploded even after the safety crew looked it over – a few months ago when he starts seriously paying attention to me and Ruby, on our progress in the Signal and junk. I've talked with Glynda. Something about Ozpin changed not long after my mom and Uncle Qrow died. From everyone I asked that knew him back then, he got colder, harsher, getting more obsessed with tech and Aura/Dust experimentation –"

"Ozpin could have just been processing his own grief. Distancing himself from you two to not see reminders of his best students. Burying himself in his work. People work through tragedy differently. The loss of his legs after the explosion, and Ruby's own brief coma inadvertently caused by the explosion, must have caused him to realize that there was no use in wallowing in misery."

"But there's just too many things that don't add up: Cardin and his team falling off the face of the map after they dropped out, Doctor Merlot getting shanked almost immediately after getting pardoned of all his crimes, Caroline Cordovin disappearing not even a day after the Kingdom Summit. And Ozpin is still pushing for the Vytal Festival to go on, even with Torchwick and his hanger-on still running around and doing God knows what."

Weiss blinked. What was that unusual day dream she just had? Her mind rarely wanders off on a random tangent like that, but lately... and with such a cruel, heartbreaking dream that was more like a nightmare...

The chill through her shoulders and her rapid blinking made her feel incredibly uneasy. The window to RWBY's dorm room wasn't even open, and Weiss was naturally attuned to cool temperatures. It was just pent-up stress, frustration, an overactive imagination, on Weiss' part. Nothing more, nothing less...

Someone nudged her arm. "You doing okay, Weiss?" Ruby asked, concern in her eyes.

Forcing herself to slip back into the natural role of "preppy ice princess", as Yang liked to call it, Weiss rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, you dolt. What about you? I believe nearly anything is possible through testing and experimentation, but actually traveling through time would be quite the feat for someone whose Semblance has nothing to with time travel."

"I don't know exactly how I did it, but it happened," Ruby insisted. Blake and Yang broke off from their argument to focus on their team leader. "Ozpin said it had something to do with magic naturally attuned to my silver eyes and enhancing my – the specifics don't matter. What matters is that I think that Ozpin is hiding more than I think he should be."

"Headmaster Ozpin can be a private person," Weiss conceded, "but you have to admit, Ruby, and you, Yang, that it's a little hard to believe that he could possibly be an accomplice to the Slayer."

"I don't think he's just an accomplice," Ruby said nervously, ripe with hesitation. "I think he is the Slayer."

Weiss sharply sucked in a breath. "Excuse you?" She glanced at their other teammates. Blake maintained her composure under a poker face, but Yang's mouth was gaping with a crooked eyebrow. "Yang, just how much distrust have you implanted in Ruby towards Headmaster Ozpin?"

"What makes you say that, Ruby?" Yang asked patiently.

"During the special tutoring sessions, the way Ozpin talks about Aura and Semblance, my silver eyes, about destiny, about magic –"

"Magic?" Weiss cut in with disbelief. "And what do your silver eyes have to with anything?" she added, but Ruby pressed on.

"He knows more about my own powers than I do. It feels like Ozpin has done this before. I know he's Beacon's Headmaster, so he's done a lot of teaching, including for Team STRQ, but from how he talks, it's as if he knows what it's like to run the way I do. To run fast enough with your Aura drained dry, using magic as a replacement and an enhancer, and to use magic as a conduit for a whole bunch of things instead of using Aura and Dust –"

"Why do you keep bringing up magic?"

"Because when the Dust Accelerator exploded, there was magic energy that got spread across –"

The ringtone from Ruby's scroll cut her off. She quickly glanced at it, declaring, "It's Jaune! I was waiting for this. Hold on." She turned on the speaker and upped the volume, holding the scroll in the center between the small circle formed by Team RWBY.

"Hey, Rubes," Jaune's nervous voice called out. "So, I convinced my team to help snoop around Beacon Tower like you asked. Was harder than we thought with all the upped security after the White Fang riot, but we made it in okay. Turns out that there are floors that go further down past the basement. Pyrrha had to use her Semblance on one of the elevators to get us down there, but when we got back to the first floor and left the Tower, Professor Port caught us crossing the yellow tape. Don't know whether he's in on what Ozpin's scheming in the basement, so we're causing a – well, Nora's causing a big distraction, so if you want to see what Ozpin's hiding under Beacon, you should head there now. Pyrrha will be there to work the elevator, but it won't be long until Port or another professor finds us.

"Trust me, Ruby, you and your team are going to need to see what was down there..."

X

Ruby couldn't believe her eyes.

There was the Slayer's suit – olive coat, green scarf, expressionless mask – being worn by a mannequin encased in glass. Almost like a sacred shrine.

Everything Ozpin has done to help her, to prepare her to become a huntress and defeat the Slayer... all the bad things he's done... the people he's killed, the lives he's ruined...

Behind Ruby, down the long, wide, dark corridor, people were still knocking on the glass walls of their cage, never stopping ever since Team RWBY had entered the Vault.

"You can't just leave us in here!" yelled a tall, tough Faunus in a White Fang uniform. "Belladonna, we were comrades once. Please, unlock this door. I've already lost too many brothers and sisters to that madman's experiments. I will not share their fate!"

"Blondie," pleaded Junior, the low-level mobster boss Yang had occasionally brawled with before, "tell me that my girls are safe. That they got out of town before Ozpin could get his hands on them. Please!"

"Miss Schnee," greeted a smirking Mercury Black, who was sitting on a stool in his cage with his prosthetic legs detached and missing, "about time you and your friends figured out that Ozpin was as crooked as the rest of us. I'd thought he could have made for a pretty good surrogate father, too. Just goes to show what suckers we really are."

"He killed my team," Cardin Winchester hissed distastefully. "They were jerks – I'm a jerk, too. I admit it – but they didn't deserve to die! You, Arc, Goodwitch – we tried to warn you all, but none of you listened! Everyone who's died in this godforsaken place; their deaths are all on you!"

A small earthquake accompanied by an echoing yell spread across the Vault. Ruby heard Yang give a short sigh. "Shut. Up," she growled. Absolute silence followed.

Everything Ozpin has done... What has it all been for?

A hand was placed on Ruby's shoulder, breaking her train of thought. To her small surprise, it was Blake giving her a reassuring, understanding look. Blake was rarely one for physical contact. She never liked the group hugs Ruby or Yang dragged the team into, but now, she was giving Ruby a one-armed embrace just as easily as Yang or Weiss would have done. At the moment, Yang was still simmering with rage, and Weiss was pretty busy staring absently into space.

"I know what it's like to realize someone you trust isn't at all who you thought he was," Blake said. Her words didn't make Ruby feel much better, but it did remind her that she wasn't alone. "We're here for you. We'll figure out our next steps together, Ruby. As friends –"

"Friend Ruby?" suddenly said a young, feminine voice. A holographic image of a head appeared above some control console-looking thing beside the Slayer's costume case. Surprised, Ruby jumped back. She could hear her teammates automatically draw out their weapons, but the blue, transparent hologram hardly looked threatening. In fact, the bow on the back of her head along with that wide smile actually looked pretty cute. "Oh, Ruby! And Team RWBY! How neat it is to see you all again!"

Ruby's mind went blank. "Uh... hi. You..." What was this, exactly? "... You know who we are?"

"Of course!" The hologram happily began listing things off with few pauses in between. "Ruby Rose: Headmaster of Beacon Academy. Also known as the Reaper. Weiss Schnee: Chief Executive Officer of the Schnee Dust Company. Blake Belladonna: Alpha of the White Fang. Also known as the Black Beast. Yang Xiao-Long: Veteran Huntress of Beacon Academy. Also known as the Punkelman. Community manager for entertainment company Roo–"

"What are you?" Weiss cut the talking head off.

"Oh, you haven't met the original me yet? Sensational! Well, I am Penny, an interactive artificial consciousness."

Ruby didn't know anyone named Penny. "Are we... friends... in the future, maybe?"

"Oh, yes we are! Or rather, we were. Or perhaps, will be. Time travel can result in so many different timelines unfolding! After Headmaster Ozpin's and friend Ruby's most recent time travel escapades –"

"You know who Ozpin is," Yang said, stepping forward. "Who he really is."

"Yes."

"What does he want? Is he really the Slayer? From the future?"

"Yes, on both counts!"

"Why did he come here?"

Penny looked at Ruby. "Originally, to kill friend Ruby."

Weiss sucked in a breath and stiffened.

Steeling her nerves, Ruby stared at Penny and asked, "Why did he try to kill me? Why did he kill my mom and uncle?"

"He hates you, and he was very angry about you interfering and escaping that night."

"Escape? But how did I – with his speed he could have – why do you mean by inter–" Ruby shook her head. "I'm still alive. What does he want from me now, then?"

"For you to become the Reaper."

Weiss stepped in front of Ruby, almost blocking her view of the hologram. "How do we know that anything you have told us is true?"

"I would never not tell the truth to my friends!" Penny said, seemingly aghast. "I may not be the original Penny Polendina – not even the second or third – but friend Weiss, it was you and friend Ruby who programmed me! I may be obligated to give Headmaster Ozpin a hand and advice on some things, but I could never lie to any of Team RWBY!"

Ruby's head was starting to spin. Too much information. Too much confusion. Magic was a real power that went beyond Dust and Aura. You can time travel with magic. The Slayer time traveled from the future. He did horrible things. He's also Headmaster Ozpin. And apparently Ruby befriends someone named Penny Polendina in the future, who becomes a computer program that Ruby and Weiss end up making, a program that Ozpin seems to be making use of.

To clear her head, Ruby began focusing on one thought: Ozpin almost completely destroyed her family, and he's going to pay for it.

X

The plan was perfect. Weiss baits Ozpin by discovering his sabotage with the force field. Ozpin gives an evil monologue confessing to his crimes. Ozpin is caged in the repaired force field, the confession gets dad out of jail, and Ozpin goes to trial for all that he's done.

Except the Ozpin that came to the lab wasn't him. It was one of the criminals Ruby had captured as the Reaper during Ozpin's "field evaluations". It was someone with a shapeshifting Semblance. By the time RWBY had figured it out, the criminal was already dead. His Aura was depleted even though his Semblance was still, so Blake's bullets killed him instead of knocking him out.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang stood over the body.

"I told you this before," said a familiar voice on the intercom. "I am always one step ahead... Reaper."

Putting the bloody back to the back of her mind, Ruby let the anger, the frustration, the resentment flood every corner of her body. "You've been using all of us from the start! You ruined my life! All of our lives!"

"I can see how this must be difficult for you to understand," Ozpin's voice said calmly, "but trust me, your lives now are so much better because of all that I have done for you."

Blake scoffed. "You don't have to hide anymore, 'Headmaster'. We know you're not Ozpin. Tell us who you really are."

"A confession..." Ozpin's voice became deeper, less and less like the self-respecting Headmaster, more and more like the arrogant, cold Slayer. "... will get you nowhere. You've seen who I am. You know what I can do."

Yeah, Ruby has. "If you want to kill me, then do it!"

"No!" Yang immediately objected. Ruby ran ahead of her to avoid getting clomped in a protective hug.

"I won't fight you. Do what you want, but just tell everyone what you did! Get my dad out of prison!"

"I have no desire to kill you, Ruby," the Slayer said in a mockingly offended tone. "I need you. And, I must admit, I did not at all anticipate, as difficult as the past ten years have been for me, how much I would come to love working with you. With all of you. Not quite like old times, but the memories I have accrued during my time as Headmaster, I will honestly treasure for the rest of my life."

He sounded so genuine, actually hurt that his ruse was done. What kind of messed up mind that the Slayer have?

"And yet," he went on, "none of that, none of my nostalgia, can change what needs to happen."

Ruby knew what has to happen. Ozpin and the Slayer have always told her what to expect. "Then show yourself!" she demanded. "Face me now!"

"Oh, we will face each other again." No more sadness, no more regret in Ozpin's voice. Only excitement, anticipation for what's to come. "I promise you, soon. Very, very soon, there will be a reckoning."


	3. Rogue Air

Okay. Ozpin turning out to be evil with that creepy lair of his? Jaune can accept that. Ozpin a time traveler with a grudge against what Ruby would become in the future? Jaune can accept that, too.

But why did Ozpin snatch Jaune away the day Rubes and her team had sprung their trap on him? What was so special about Jaune? Yeah, he was the latest in the Arc family line to inherit Crocea Mors, but that was all he had going for him. His name was practically the only reason he got accepted into Beacon. He still hasn't discovered his Semblance, he's still falling behind in his studies, and if Pyrrha wasn't there to help improve his combat skills...

Jaune could hear Ozpin climbing down the ladder, returning to his hideaway. Still strapped tightly in the seat of a chair, Jaune had to crane his neck to look behind him, glancing pass the steel columns holding up the high ceiling of the relatively compact room. If Jaune had to guess, Ozpin's second secret lair here was located in some sort of industrial area, somewhere underground, but he didn't have a clue where in Vale they could be. Maybe a hidden room in his Vault. Maybe not.

Putting on his game face, doing his best to not let the fear show through his face, or his voice, or through the shivers of his body, Jaune asked, "Don't suppose you brought lunch?"

Ozpin didn't even look at Jaune as he strolled passed him and beelined it for the workbench. Oz had been tinkering with that gizmo ever since he had brought Jaune here. It was anyone's guess what that gizmo was.

"How about some water?" Jaune tried asking. He's been given forceful sips of water during his stay here. No dice on the food, though. When Ozpin didn't answer, Jaune said, "Why are you keeping me here?"

Jaune was a bit surprised to get an answer. "For insurance," Oz said.

"Okay," Jaune drawled out. "Insurance for what?"

"I have no obligation to answer your questions. Be wary of what you say."

"Yeah? Or Wha–"

In a burst of inhuman speed, Ozpin was to face-to-face with Jaune, leaning right in front of him. Oz's sudden appearance, along with those Grimm-like glowing red eyes of his, shut Jaune up instantly.

With Jaune strapped to a chair for who knows how long, this wasn't the first time he has soiled his pants in the past few days. It still wasn't a comfortable feeling, though. Despite that, Jaune breathed in through his noise and held his chin up high.

Oz blinked. Gone were the red eyes, replaced by his normal brown eyes. He was still smiling like a demented, evil genius, though.

"Apologies for being such an unkind host," Ozpin said with a sincerity Jaune absolutely did not believe for a second. Jaune recognized that look. It was a fake look, a façade that plenty of bullies Jaune has met liked to put on. "Old habits die hard, Mister Arc. It has been several years since you and I have had the pleasure of each other's company without someone trying to main the other person."

Come to think of it, this was the first time Jaune has met Ozpin face-to-face and one-on-one. Jaune's been at his office with the rest of Team JNPR, but Jaune has never been called up or been paid a personal visit by the Headmaster of Beacon.

"How do we know each other?" Jaune asked. "In the future, I mean."

Oz pursed his lips. "Comrades, I suppose. Then rivals, then friends. We developed a sort of student-mentor relationship at one point, even. Ultimately, however, we found ourselves devoted to deeply incompatible missions. You wished to flourish as a huntsman alongside the rest of our peers. I sought to become the Slayer."

Wait a second. "'Our peers'?" Right, right. This really wasn't Headmaster Ozpin. He was a fake. Jaune should really start following that line of thinking. "What's your real name?"

"You may continue to refer to me as Ozpin," said the Fake Ozpin. He turned back to his workbench. "I truly am sorry for the straining conditions I have put over you, Mister Arc, but with my identity as the Slayer exposed, I can no longer indulge you in your high school romance."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Wait. What are you talking about?"

Fake Ozpin chuckled. "It was not at all by chance or blind luck that your transcripts barely passed Beacon's high standards, Mister Arc, nor was it chance that Team JNPR formed the way it had."

Fake Ozpin was from the future. An alternate future, anyway, where he and Jaune became friends in that future. So in that alternate timeline, maybe, "The me that you know didn't pass the prerequisite tests and did actually fake his way into Beacon."

"Yes, you did," Fake Oz confirmed. "I never did quite understand the true Ozpin's reasoning for that, letting an unqualified student such as yourself enter Beacon while letting his combat partner pick up the slack in giving him supplementary training. I can imagine more than a dozen better ways to invest in and utilize your potential. Then again, there are many things the original Ozpin has done that I still question. I had thought I could one day truly understand him. Perhaps in another life, but in this one, I suppose despite our close bond, we could never truly understand what was it like to be in the other's shoes."

Oh, Fake Oz was starting to sound nostalgic. Contemplative. Maybe he's the kind to ramble to any audience who would listen. Jaune might be able to reap some valuable intel out of this situation, maybe earn some sympathy points from the Fake Oz, or get something that would improve Jaune's current situation.

"Why take Headmaster Ozpin's place?" Jaune asked quietly. "I get that you've got some vendetta against Ruby, and you've got some evil mastermind plan in the works, but pretending to be someone else for ten years –"

"It was far easier than you might think," Fake Oz interrupted Jaune. "Masquerading as Ozpin was no troublesome feat. The true challenge, aside from my efforts to return to my time, was to provide what kindnesses I could to the people that I believed deserved it."

Kindnesses? What the heck was he talking about? "You killed people! Tortured them, experimented on them –"

"And look at what I have given the world in exchange for those losses," Fake Ozpin said, sounding amused. "Weiss Schnee, Mercury Black, Hazel Rainart, Roman Torchwick, and so many more live far more content, independent lives, no longer shackled by false senses of duty, emptiness, or vengeance."

Jaune hardly knew any of those people, even if he and Weiss have chatted a few times, so he couldn't say if Fake Oz was really speaking the truth there or not.

"The Maidens live their lives freely, without an overbearing control freak commanding them, and without a misguided, deluded queen conspiring against them."

Maidens? Queens? What?

"Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie have lived a wonderful childhood thanks to the Slayer saving their home village."

Yeah, Jaune's heard rumors about the Slayer killing a lot of bigshot Grimm over the years, and Ren had claimed to have actually seen the Slayer at work from a distance when he and Nora were still kids, but that didn't make it okay for the Slayer to kill Ruby's and Yang's family! Not to mention the serial killer's basement/prison he kept under Beacon Tower!

"Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos maintain a loving romantic relationship."

Wait, what?

"I can no longer indulge you in your high school romance," Fake Oz had said... so...

"Are Pyrrha and I not together in the future?" Jaune hesitantly asked. "Was Team JNPR ever a thing in the future?"

Fake Oz paused in his work for a moment, as if considering how to answer, before getting back to it. "Team JNPR still formed in my timeline, but to my understanding, you were too socially awkward and unconfident in legitimately courting Miss Nikos until it was too late."

Oh... that... kinda sucks... Sure, Jaune's sisters have always told him that teenage romances don't always last forever, but the time he has spent with Pyrrha... Jaune didn't want to imagine what kind of life he'd be living if he hadn't happened to meet Pyrrha by chance that night in Mistral.

Then again... it wasn't by chance, was it? Fake Oz must have planned the whole thing.

"It was a kindness on my part to bring you two closer together," Fake Ozpin continued. "However, please don't consider what happens later in your relationship as a cruel insult or a dastardly offense against you or Miss Nikos. Despite my best efforts, destiny tends to always find a way to correct itself."

Destiny wasn't a pre-determined fate. It was a goal that you happened to find yourself walking towards throughout your entire life. You can't course correct a path when you don't quite know what direction the path is gonna take you.

Fake Ozpin chuckled again. "I know of yours and Miss Nikos' shared views on destiny, but make no mistake. There are fixed moments in time that, if disrupted, can create catastrophic, unpredictable damages and changes to the timeline. This goes beyond simple personal belief. It is a proven science."

Science. Jaune's worst subject. "I can't believe that," Jaune said. "You can make all the excuses you want, but at the end of the day, you're the bad guy, Ozpin, and if you keep on being the bad guy, then you're gonna lose. No matter what good you think you might have done over the years, it doesn't erase the bad. Not one bit. Ruby and the others are going to stop you."

"On the contrary, for my current plans, I don't plan for anyone to lose," Fake Ozpin stopped with his work and turned back to Jaune. Fake Oz was still smiling. "I suppose, at the worst, you lose, Mister Arc."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"As I said, there are fixed points in time that must go unaltered, lest the butterfly effect spiral out of control. You've seen what altering a fixed point can do. The real Ozpin is gone, the Slayer has made himself known to his ultimate enemy several years in advance, the countless other changes I've made..."

"What does this have to do with me losing and everyone else winning?"

"There is another fixed point that I suspect I will be unable to alter." The expression on the Fake Ozpin's face looked... sad? Sympathetic? What the heck? Seriously? "I am sorry, Mister Arc. In many other worlds, in other timelines, you happen to be quite popular with the ladies. In a thousand different Remnants, despite whatever trials you may face, you get to live happily ever after with the woman you love. In this timeline, however, you are destined to lose the one you love, and to never love another in the same way again."

Jaune stared blankly at the Fake Ozpin.

He stared back, with nothing but empathy on his face.

"She can't die," Jaune found himself saying. "She can't. She's Pyrrha. She's too good. She's the best huntress-in-training out there. She's going to be the best fully-fledged huntress in the world. Nothing can kill her. She wouldn't let anything get close to killing her. I wouldn't let anything..."

"I have done my best to gift you all some kindness," Fake Ozpin said, "but you can never defy destiny. I had to learn my lesson the hard way."

Bull. This was complete bull. Nothing Fake Ozpin was saying was worth listening to.

Pyrrha can't die...

"She will," Fake Ozpin said. The look on Jaune's face must've gave it all away, what he was really thinking. "I can't stop it, and neither can you."

"... Why did you kidnap me?" Jaune asked, not wanting to entertain the thought of Pyrrha being gone from his life any longer.

"Because you are a good man, Mister Arc. Deep down, you are the type of person who would give up everything you have if it meant the salvation of another, even a total stranger. Even former friends who betray you and become your enemies. I require that man's good will, along with his Semblance, if my continued existence is to be preserved."

Jaune hasn't even figure out what his Semblance was yet.

What was the Fake Ozpin planning to do with him to unlock it? Jaune saw the footage of what happened to Cardin's teammates and read the reports of the other experiments the Fake Ozpin had conducted. If the Fake Oz planned to do to Jaune what he did to them... If he planned to do to Pyrrha what he did to them –

"Mister Arc. Jaune. I want you to take a moment and think about all the things that define your life."

Fake Oz went back to his workbench. Before long, some red glow began emanating from his gizmo.

"All the people you love, your career, your teammates, your home."

There was a clicking sound, some sparks that jumped out from the gizmo before the red glow lessened.

"And now imagine if one day, in a flash, all of that vanished."

Seemingly satisfied with his work, Fake Oz pocketed something before stretching his limbs and cracking his neck.

"Would you simply accept your new life and continue on?"

In a blink of green energy, Fake Oz disappeared. From where Jaune could see, the workbench was empty.

"Or would you do whatever it takes to get back what was taken from you?"

Fake Oz returned. He stood before Jaune. Holding her by the restraints wrapped around her wrists behind her back, Fake Oz forced a woman Jaune didn't recognize down to her knees. She had sunken amber eyes, raven black hair, and wore a mangled red dress. Her face was pale, and she was shaking uncontrollably. She looked ten times more disheveled and afraid than any of the other prisoners the Fake Oz had kept in the Vault.

"Because I can assure you, Jaune, I will get everything that was taken from me."

Without a lick of hesitation or remorse, the Slayer shoved an electrified hand through the woman's stomach. Blood began pouring as the woman fell to the floor and struggled with the pain.

The Slayer left again in a flash. He happened to unlock Jaune's restraints, too. As such, Jaune leaned over the woman and tried to think fast on how to best help her. Carry her out to get help? Leave her and go get help to bring back? Try to treat her injury himself?

Maybe Jaune's Semblance, if he unlocks it and it's a power that could...

Jaune Arc was the latest in a long line of veteran, world renowned Huntsmen. Huntsmen destroy monsters and save people. Jaune's going to save this woman, and then he's going help Ruby destroy the Slayer however he can.

And if it comes to it, Jaune will do whatever he has to in order to save Pyrrha from death.

X

Ruby was lying on her side, disoriented. She couldn't see a thing. Her head was spinning, it felt like her forehead was going to split open, and she was absolutely done with whatever other curveballs that could be sent her way.

Trusting Roman Torchwick to help escort all of the Slayer's prisoners into safer cells than the ones getting irradiated from the weird energy fluctuations leaking into the Vault thanks to the sudden charging of power from the Dust Accelerator? Everyone thought Ruby was crazy for suggesting it, but between the reveal of the Fake Ozpin stunning Vale's Council into a confused and paranoid mess, the Slayer's killings of many veteran huntsmen, and the Kingdom's priority in reinforcing their borders against more Grimm attacks, Roman was basically their only option left to request help from. He was a greedy criminal, so paying him a small fortune for the job while also wiping away his criminal record should have been a good enough incentive to keep Torchwick on the level.

Professors Goodwitch, Port, and Oobleck had also thought so, but as it turns out, they were all wrong.

Ruby had no idea where her team, Team JNPR, the professors, or the reserved policemen were. Jaune was still in the infirmary with Pyrrha recuperating from his imprisonment by the Slayer, so Ruby knew those two weren't around, but she couldn't tell where anyone else was in this blinding, deafening fog over hanging over her.

She readjusted her Reaper mask so that it wouldn't slip off, snapped back her red hood, and tried to stand.

Something hit her back and pinned her to the floor. Ruby recognized the feeling: the end of Neo's umbrella. Neo had slapped it against Ruby's head and against Crescent Rose a few times during their brawl moments before.

Ruby's senses were starting to clear up, the fog and pain lifting slightly. She could hear the echoing gait of Torchwick, smell the foul stench of his cigar.

"Oh my God," Torchwick said in genuine surprise. "Lou, is that you? I honestly thought Taurus had you killed for that botched job a few months back. Well, good to see you're still alive. How's Perry?"

"Dead."

"Oh, what a shame. Well, he owed me money that I'm sure he never would have been able to pay back, so I suppose Ozpin was good for something, at least. And Mercury! Whatever happened to that girl of yours? Emerald-something?"

"You were right about her. Total gold-digger, through and through. Look where it got me. Don't even have a leg to stand on now."

"Ha! As unfunny and charming as ever, Merc. You still have a lot to learn in this line of work." Torchwick paused. Ruby could feel his eyes on her. "Some more than others. By the way, where did everyone's favorite dame in the dress run off to?"

"Cinder? Ran off the second she got free. I'm surprised how fast she could move, considering that her Aura's still out of whack."

"Well, nothing we can do about her now. So, on to business. For those of you who don't know, my name is Roman Torchwick –"

"I know who you are," cut in Cardin Winchester.

"Always pleased to meet a fan," Torchwick responded smugly without missing a beat. "Now, I'd just like everyone to know who it was that made sure you didn't get thrown into that airship bound for nowhere."

"What's the catch, Roman?" somebody asked him.

"I think you know. For now, we should all just go our separate ways. This city is going to be turned upside down in the next day or two, so I'd get out of town soon if I were you."

Ruby could hear the shuffling of feet. Some were sprinting away, others at a more patient but brisk pace. Neo got off of Ruby, but Ruby still felt queasy and disoriented. She only barely made out the professors' unconscious and badly battered bodies near the upside down, burning transport truck. They were alive, and from the look of Ruby's nearby scroll, her team, Ren, and Nora still had adequate Aura levels to still be alive, too.

Torchwick, smirking marched over to Ruby. Grunting in pain, Ruby glared at the lying, cheating scumbag. "You said you would help," she muttered. "The Professors gave you what you wanted. Why did you let the prisoners escape?" The Slayer's prisoners didn't deserve to die from whatever the Slayer was cooking with the Vault and Dust Accelerator, but they were all still criminals who had crimes to pay for. It wasn't right to just let them run free.

"Because now they all owe me," Torchwick said, "and something tells me they'll be a lot more use to me running free than rotting away in some top-secret black ops Atlas facility."

"You gave us your word."

"That's true," Torchwick cackled, "but here's the thing, Red." Torchwick's tone steadily became less playful and condescending, and more serious and lecturing. "I'm a criminal, and a liar, and I hurt people, and I rob them. What did you expect me to do? Not be what I am? I saw an opportunity to turn things to my advantage, and I did. Who you're really mad at is yourself, making the wrong call by trusting the wrong person."

Shut up. Shut up! Ruby tried to charge Torchwick, but Neo just thwacked her head to put her down.

"With Ozpin gone rogue, Goodwitch is the defacto head honcho of Beacon," Torcwick went on. "I've seen how much pull you have with her, how much people look at you and see Team STRQ reborn and living on through you. Goodwitch may have been the one to pay me the money, but you were the one who convinced her to employ me. Everything that has happened today is on you, Red."

Just shut up. "Why don't you just kill me already?" Ruby bitterly asked.

"Well I guess you owe me one now, too."

With those parting words, Torchwick and Neo began to make their exit.

"Good luck with whatever Ozpin has in store for you," Torchwick called out over his shoulder as they sauntered off. "I'm actually really excited to see how it all turns out."

X

Once the Dust Accelerator was fully charged, the Slayer didn't even bother showing up while wearing his olive coat or the blank mask. Instead, he wore the real Ozpin's usual attire as he walked up the main avenue to Beacon Tower. Ruby stood at the base of the Tower, patiently awaiting the Slayer's arrival.

The Slayer stopped walking a few yards away from Ruby. Speaking loudly to be clearly heard, he said, "I am aware that your prison transfer didn't go so well. You have my sympathies."

"All part of your plan, I'm guessing?" Ruby shot back.

"Actually, that didn't factor into my plan at all, but I'm impressed you went to such great lengths to keep those people from harm. Ever the heroic huntress, Ruby."

"You've hurt enough people."

The Slayer started pacing back and forth. "You see me as the villain, as expected, but, Ruby, if you were to look back, look back and analyze carefully at everything I've done, every wheel I have set in motion, you would realize I have only done what I had to do. Nothing more, nothing less."

The Fake Ozpin's lips cracked a crooked smile. "Well, maybe I've done a little more than I should have."

"And how does the Dust Accelerator fit into all this?" Ruby questioned. The Accelerator was what had tapped and jumpstarted Ruby's magical affinity in the first place. What was the Slayer's next step in using it?

"Why don't we go inside? Let me show you."

"You know, I just learned the hard way not to trust the bad guy."

"True, but without some degree of moral compromise, you can never achieve anything of worthwhile value in this world. I've shown you time and time again. You can't beat me, Ruby."

Maybe Ruby can't beat him. Maybe the Reaper can't beat the Slayer.

But Ruby wasn't alone.

While Ruby stood ahead of the Fake Ozpin's path, Weiss revealed herself from the shadows of a tree to cut him off from going back down where he came. Blake and Yang also made their appearance, all four of Team RWBY surrounding the Slayer.

The professors were still too weak from the botched prison transfer, the reserve huntsmen far away from Beacon and too busy at the front lines against the Grimm, so many students in Beacon unsure on how to handle the reveal that Headmaster Ozpin, a living legend in the Huntsmen community, was also the Slayer of Men and Grimm.

There was no one else left. While Team JNPR licked their wounds and kept a close eye on the Dust Accelerator, it was up to Team RWBY now to take the Slayer in.

"You've brought yourself some friends," the Slayer said as he glanced at everyone. "Should I be surprised by this turn of events?"

"I don't care how fast you are," Ruby said. "You can't beat all four of us at the same time."

"Oh, I can't?" The Slayer took one step forward. Each member of RWBY readied their weapons. "Trust me. This... This is gonna be fun."

The Fake Ozpin donned his mask. His eyes glowed red. In a fast-moving blur, the form of Ozpin was gone. The Man in the Olive Coat, the Slayer, stood in his place.

Ruby has seen the footage of the Slayer killing six veteran huntsmen in the blink of an eye. From Weiss' and Doctor Oobleck's analysis of the footage, it looked like the Slayer was able to subtlety drain a person's Aura through just by being near them, yet the person won't notice it until someone attempts to break their Aura shielding or if the person overuses their Semblance. Since the force field during that time had been faulty since the beginning, it made sense how the Slayer had so easily slain those huntsmen.

Team RWBY, however, was ready this time. Along with their regular hunting gear, they had on specialized, experimental bodysuits that Glynda's and Weiss' connections to Atlas had managed to secure. They were made out of material derived from the same stuff the Reaper's mask was made from. The suits and the Reaper's mask blocked Aura drainage from outside sources, and they even worked in tandem with the wearer's Aura to reinforce their Aura shielding.

Apparently, the genius Atlas scientist and engineer who designed the suits went by the title of Doctor Polendina.

That was something to look seriously into later, but for now, all that mattered was that the suits put Team RWBY and the Slayer on an even playing field. Whatever other tricks the Slayer had up his sleeve, tonight, he was going down no matter what.

Ruby fired a shot from Crescent Rose behind her to quickly close in on the Slayer. He drew out his cane and met Ruby's assault head on.

Crescent Rose folded up into her storage mode. Ruby hugged her weapon and wrapped herself into a little ball, swerving around the Slayer's swing. Once Ruby was behind him, she instantly unfolded Crescent Rose and fired a shot. As the Slayer leaned to the side to dodge the bullet, he tapped his cane against the floor, inciting an erratic bolt of lightning to fire toward Ruby.

Her silver eyes grew wide. The bolt moved as fast as light, but Ruby channeled the innate magic in her system to augment her reflexes so that the bolt looked as if it was moving in slow motion. She's better prepared now, more driven. The burning in her eyeballs was still there, as was the strained breathing and that sensation of her bones being pulled apart, but she shut away all of the torment that came with utilizing magic. The only thing on her mind was doing what needed to be done.

As much as Ruby hated to admit it, the Fake Ozpin had taught her well.

Spinning her scythe around, the blade caught the bolt of lightning. Bring the end of her weapon back around, the energized blade making a successful cut along the Slayer's arm. Ruby drew blood, though it wasn't much, and the Slayer was already moving to jab his cane toward her stomach. Ruby deflected the attack and backed away to avoid the follow-up attacks.

At the same time, Blake and a small party of shadow clones rushed the Slayer. In response, he generated an energy dome that surrounded him. The clones vanished into thin air as they ran into the shield. The real Blake stopped short of touching the dome. Once the Slayer deactivated his shield, he moved to attack her. Despite his speed, however, Blake has been practicing constantly on leaving a shadow clone for an opponent to take the beat while the real Blake stepped away. As such, the Slayer hit the false image of Blake while Gambol Shroud was unloaded point blank at him.

Still, the Slayer's endurance and his own defenses were incredible. He tackled Blake, giving her a suplex. Blake's shriek of pain was coupled with the crack of broken bone. Not a second after Blake's head hit the floor, the Slayer was already upright and holding Blake's arm up, stomping his energy-coated foot against her elbow so that the arm bent at an unnatural angle. Aura can take a lot of damage, but there was no way a move like that wouldn't hurt.

The Slayer wasn't supposed to do that, but they can't help it if the Slayer's speed threw a wrench into the plans. They can salvage this. The Slayer has barely moved more than a few feet from where he was initially standing when the fight began. So, with the Slayer momentarily distracted with breaking Blake's arm, Weiss was able to finally summon an intricate circle of glyphs that would temporarily paralyze him.

It wouldn't last long, of course. His body was already sparking with vibrant green, magical energy and vibrating at a frequency that would soon erode the designs on the glyphs, thus deactivating them.

Before he could break the glyphs, however, Yang was upper-cutting him into the sky. Ruby propelled herself upward to meet him in the air. She swung her scythe, overpowering the Slayer's blocking cane just enough to stab her blade into his shoulder. Expecting the Slayer to work through the pain and to try to pull a reversal on Ruby, she fired a shot that sent her further upward and him back down.

The Slayer was probably planning to unleashed a shockwave when he landed. Anticipating that, Yang picked up the incapacitated Blake and tossed her to the distant Weiss' arms. The Slayer's cane made contact with Yang's punching fist.

Ruby could still feel the magic flowing through her veins. It went above and beyond normal Aura. Still in the air, she could see Yang grit her teeth as she took on the force of the Slayer's augmented thrust. Ruby could also see the Slayer flinching when too many nanoseconds passed without him overpowering Yang.

Ruby was shocked to see a crack begin to form along the cane.

Seizing the opportunity, Ruby looked down Crescent Rose's scope, channeled what magic energy she could into her Dust munitions, and fired.

Ruby knew perfectly well that the Slayer would hear the shot and react accordingly. He let Yang fully deliver her punch against his cane, pushing the Slayer himself away and in a perfect position to dodge the incoming bullet.

Unfortunately for him, the magic bullet hit Yang squarely in the forehead.

With the damage dealt, Yang exploded into a golden inferno. Her overstimulated Semblance was almost as blinding as the sun itself. Even the Slayer had to raise an arm to block the sudden light from blinding him.

Moving almost as fast as Ruby had ran when she had accidentally time traveled, Yang fired her shotgun gauntlets to send herself flying towards the Slayer. She delivered an onslaught of shotgun blasts and punches that soon stained his entire body with blood and bruises. He lost his grip on his cane as it was thrown in some random direction. Yang even managed to break his mask into two.

Keeping with the momentum, Ruby stabbed her scythe right through the Slayer's spine. It wasn't exactly joy that Ruby felt when he heard him scream, but the pained, panicked sound coming out of the madman greatly satisfied her. Team RWBY was winning this fight.

But then the Slayer clutched Ruby's and Yang's throats, choking them. "That's the spirit," the Slayer growled. As all three descended from the air, the Slayer smashed the sisters' faces against the floor.

Yang was on a roll, though. While Ruby was trying to get back on her feet, Yang performed a somersault and landed a dropkick on the edge of Crescent Rose. The kick dug the scythe deeper through the Slayer's back. Ruby copied Yang's move and delivered a dropkick that hit the back of the Slayer's head. The Slayer now lay prone on the floor.

The intensity of Yang's glowing, fiery Semblance was slowly waning now, Ruby could see. The effects of the magically upgraded Dust bullets never lasted long when they were experimenting with them.

The Slayer's red eyes met Ruby's silver ones. "You can't stop me, Reaper. And you never will."

He knocked his elbow against Yang's jaw, knocking her off him. He pulled Crescent Rose out of his back and tried to use it to slice Ruby's head off.

The Slayer was still as fast as ever, but Ruby has gotten faster. The Slayer's own injuries didn't help him much either. Ruby weaved around the slashes. Without the Slayer's mask on, Ruby was greeted with a maniacal, bloody grin donning the Slayer's face.

Ruby jumped forward to grip Crescent Rose. She and the Slayer fought for control of the weapon.

With the Slayer distracted, that gave Weiss and Blake plenty of opportunity to thrust their respective swords into his back, which they did. The Slayer's hold on Crescent Rose faltered, letting Ruby bring it back around to stab him in his other shoulder, pinning him into a kneeling position.

Weiss and Blake retracted their swords. Weiss held her rapier tightly, holding the pointed end at the Slayer's Adam's apple. Blake stepped back, shifting Gambol Shroud into its gun mode, her broken harm hanging loosely. Yang was back on her feet, though she was leaning to one side and trying to catch her breath as the strain of the magic-enhanced Semblance took its toll.

It looked like the Slayer was at his limit, too. His bloody grin from before changed into a frown, and the glowing orbs on his face faded back into their normal brown color. He closed his eyes, falling into unconsciousness.

As Ruby pulled out her blade and tried to relax her senses. She shut her own eyes tightly, taking one deep breath, letting the magical energy steadily and earnestly shuffle back and give way to the normal flow of Aura.

The Slayer fell forward. Ruby could see the repetitive nature of magic already beginning to heal the knocked out Slayer's injuries.

The Slayer would recover soon, but that didn't matter. He was their prisoner now. Here Team RWBY was, standing over the beaten and broken killer who had taken away Ruby's mother and uncle.

"We got you," Ruby said under her breath, and her resolve couldn't have been any more unbreakable at this moment. She couldn't have asked for a better team.

It was time for the Slayer to answer for everything he's done.


End file.
